Palestinians deployed in Gaza after killings

GAZA – President Mahmoud Abbas ordered security forces to deploy across Gaza yesterday after the killing of three young sons of one of his loyalists shocked Palestinians and stoked fears of internal strife.

Tension between the moderate Abbas and the governing Hamas Islamist group has soared after the attack by unidentified gunmen on Monday. The three children of a senior intelligence chief were shot dead as they arrived at school.It was the first time children have been targeted in such an attack.A senior official from Abbas’s Fatah faction, Hussein al-Sheikh, said the Hamas government bore responsibility.”Of course people very close to Hamas to say the least are behind the killings.We hold the government and the interior minister directly responsible,” Sheikh said.”These are mafias, killer gangs,” he added, referring to the perpetrators of the drive-by shooting.Senior Hamas lawmaker Mushir al-Masri angrily denied the militant movement had anything to do with the attack.”It seems some Fatah leaders are exploiting the blood of innocent children to earn political gains.We hold those leaders fully responsible for the grave consequences that may result from the fabrication and lies they are making.”Early yesterday, heavily armed members of security forces that take their orders from Abbas took up positions around key installations and road junctions in Gaza City.”Palestinian security forces deployed in all streets of Gaza City to prevent crime.This was upon orders from President Abbas,” said one Palestinian security source.A force loyal to Hamas also strengthened its positions in the coastal strip.Scores of children on their way to school paid their respects at a mourning tent erected in Gaza City for the dead boys.They then set fire to tyres in the streets to protest the killings, sending clouds of black smoke into the air.Angry mourners firing guns stormed the parliament compound on Monday during the funeral for the boys, aged 6 to 9.Besides internal political unrest, Gaza is riven with clan fighting and a surge in crime following a Western aid embargo on the Hamas government that has deepened poverty.Nampa-ReutersThe three children of a senior intelligence chief were shot dead as they arrived at school.It was the first time children have been targeted in such an attack.A senior official from Abbas’s Fatah faction, Hussein al-Sheikh, said the Hamas government bore responsibility.”Of course people very close to Hamas to say the least are behind the killings.We hold the government and the interior minister directly responsible,” Sheikh said.”These are mafias, killer gangs,” he added, referring to the perpetrators of the drive-by shooting.Senior Hamas lawmaker Mushir al-Masri angrily denied the militant movement had anything to do with the attack.”It seems some Fatah leaders are exploiting the blood of innocent children to earn political gains.We hold those leaders fully responsible for the grave consequences that may result from the fabrication and lies they are making.”Early yesterday, heavily armed members of security forces that take their orders from Abbas took up positions around key installations and road junctions in Gaza City.”Palestinian security forces deployed in all streets of Gaza City to prevent crime.This was upon orders from President Abbas,” said one Palestinian security source.A force loyal to Hamas also strengthened its positions in the coastal strip.Scores of children on their way to school paid their respects at a mourning tent erected in Gaza City for the dead boys.They then set fire to tyres in the streets to protest the killings, sending clouds of black smoke into the air.Angry mourners firing guns stormed the parliament compound on Monday during the funeral for the boys, aged 6 to 9.Besides internal political unrest, Gaza is riven with clan fighting and a surge in crime following a Western aid embargo on the Hamas government that has deepened poverty.Nampa-Reuters